TT Mt Vernon

We moved about 40 miles south on I-5 on Oct 18th to the MT Vernon Thousand Trails park in Bow, WA. Had a bit of trouble finding the park as there was no Thousand Trail sign when you come off the interstate. The park is kind of hidden in behind the Skagit Casino at exit 236. Trouble is, Darrk Lane runs past the casino into what looks like a dead end area. TT Mt Vernon is located at the very end of the dead end on Darrk Lane. We suggested a Thousand Trails sign be posted back at the main intersection but the ranger told us the local Skagit band running the casino won’t let them erect a sign. Sounds a little strange to me.

The park is huge and set in the trees on the side of I-5. We asked for sites with good satellite reception and were directed to B row. We managed to find two sites in B row but I can’t get a cleaer shot of the sky so my new Datastorm satellite remains stored on the roof. I can get Bell ExpressVu 91 on my Kingdome though, so I do have satellite TV. Internet works well with our Verizon modem too. Only 30 amp electric and no sewer hook up. There are some sites in the park with sewer, but not many. We are only here for 3 days, so no sewer connection won’t be a problem. There is a dump station in the park as well.

Some of the areas in the park are closed off for the winter, even though this park will be open all winter for the first time. The pool and hot tub are both closed for the season but there are 3 indoor pickleball courts in the Oasis. The Oasis is a large metal sided building near the works yard that has basketball nets, foosball table and a ping pong table available for guests. We have made good use of the pickleball courts, playing both Sunday and Monday afternoons. With only three of us, we make do with a round robin format, which gets the heart pumping anyway. We are all a bit rusty. Had to dodge a few puddles on the courts for a bit when we started. Not sure if the roof of the Oasis leaked after the heavy rain they had here or if it just rain in under the base of walls. In any event we managed quite well.

I have gotten in two nice morning runs since runs. I have to wait until 8 am so it is light enough to see my way around. I stuck to the gravel roads in the park the first time but ventured off the roads onto the nature trails this morning and got to see some nice forested areas. Trees are in full fall colours with lots of maple leaves on the ground. Mainly yellows and greens, not too many of the bright red leaves we see in Ontario. I believe that is because there hasn’t been any frost here. Temps stay above zero at night for the most part.

There is a brand new Super Walmart in Mount Vernon with a nice grocery store. We spent some time there and also at Camping World yesterday, picking up a few bits for the motorhome. I’m going back to Camping World today to grab one of their collapsible 7 ft “A” frame ladders for the motorhome. It’s on sale for $139.99 right now, which sure beats the $200 plus tax that same ladder was going for back in Ottawa last summer.

I’m trying something new with this blog entry. I’m writing this entry offline in Windows Live Writer and then posting it to our blog online afterwards. I picked up this tip from Chris at Geeks On Tour. Look pretty good so far and there are lots of plug ins available for Live Writer to make it even more functional.

We head for La Conner tomorrow morning for 4 days. Looking forward to playing some pickleball outside for a change. Also hoping their hot tub is not closed for the season as well.